Mailer type business forms must serve a wide variety of customer requirements. Several features that are almost universally desirable include the ability to print on a large amount of the mailer, a built-in reply envelope that accepts a conventional size personal check without folding, a statement portion, and a remittance coupon or stub portion for being returned along with the check remittance.
Fourteen-inch, pressure seal Z-fold built-in return envelope products are conventionally imaged on a laser printer in the simplexed mode (one side only). From a print processing standpoint, this is an advantage. However, because the document is simplexed, there is not much space available for variable imaging. These areas generally include room for a statement or invoice, room for a remittance coupon or stub portion, and room to create the return envelope. With conventional three panel documents, one panel is used for the outgoing address panel and the two remaining panels are used to meet the remaining requirements of the mailer. More specifically, on conventional existing pressure seal Z-fold return constructions, the face of the top panel is generally used for both the remittance and the statement or invoice, the middle panel is used to create one side of the return envelope and the bottom is used to create the second side of the return envelope. Pressure seal adhesive or co-adhesive is provided on one and/or the other of the middle panel and bottom panel so that when the Z-fold mailer is formed, the return envelope is simultaneously created. Accordingly, to remit payment, the customer removes the combined statement/remittance portion, severs the remittance stub and inserts it in the reply envelope together with the personal check remittance. A re-wettable adhesive is typically provided on the reply envelope flap, which is folded to the back of the reply envelope to seal the remittance therein.
In the above-described 14 inch, Z-fold return mailer construction, the bottom panel serves a dual purpose. It bears the outgoing address and the side having the outgoing address defines the backside of the return envelope when the mailing is Z-folded. As a result, however, part of the outgoing address is visible on the backside of the return envelope. Some Z-fold mailers have been configured to minimize or eliminate the exposed outgoing address. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,795, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference, provides a construction wherein part of the outgoing address is removed by tearing along a line of weakness and the remaining portion of the outgoing address is obscured or covered when the reply envelope is sealed. Nevertheless, with this and other conventional Z-folds, the return mailer envelope is generally a side open construction or side sealing envelope construction. A top open or top sealing construction is not possible with this pressure Z-fold construction simply because there is a lack of space.
It is an object of the invention to provide, e.g., a 14-inch, pressure seal Z-fold return envelope construction that can be used on all pressure seal folding/sealing hardware, that provides additional room for variable information, and that provides a top open return envelope making the product friendlier and more versatile to the end user. According to the present invention, an intermediate for a mailer type business form and the mailer itself are provided which achieves the objectives set forth above. The intermediate comprises a single quadrate sheet of paper, which may be easily run through a printer to print indicia on either one or both faces. In an exemplary embodiment, the outgoing address and the reply address are on different faces of the intermediate and thus where adapted to printing in the simplexed mode, only the outgoing address is variably imaged. The intermediate may be easily Z-folded to form the final mailer and sealed by conventional techniques. The mailer is easy to open and the reply envelope is easy to assemble and utilize.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the face of the document has three equal panels, one panel, for example the top panel, is used for the statement or invoice. A second panel, for example the middle panel is provided to serve a dual purpose. It defines a remittance piece or portion and one panel or side of the return envelope. Because the remittance is provided on the second panel, it allows for more room for the statement on the first panel. The third panel, for example the bottom panel, also serves a dual purpose. It is provided as the face of the outgoing mail piece and also defines the second panel of the return envelope, with the face that defined the outgoing mail piece serving as the inside of the return mailer. As the result, the outgoing address is not exposed on the reply envelope.
In an exemplary embodiment, the back the three panel document includes opening instructions, for example, on the first, top panel; includes a preprinted return address, preferably on the second, middle panel; and in an exemplary embodiment, the third, bottom panel is the back of the return mail piece, on which an advertisement or other information may be provided.
The intermediate for the business form provided according to the invention is imaged in the simplexed mode and then folded and sealed in a conventional manner. When the end user receives the document, the two vertical sides are removed and then the remainder of the document is opened by breaking adhesive regions defined at the top and bottom, using a letter opener, index finger, or the like. The statement is then detached from the document and retained by the end user. The recipient fills out the remittance portion defined on one of the two panels of the reply envelope. Folding the second and third panels defines the return mailer. A stub portion located at the bottom of the form is removed to define the back of the return mail piece. The end user then activates, e.g., by wetting an adhesive defined at the two sides of the second panel and adheres the second and third panels to create the return envelope. A check is then inserted into the return envelope and the envelope is sealed by wetting the adhesive flap of the reply envelope and applying it to the back of the return/reply mail piece. No remittance stub or portion needs to be enclosed with the check because it is integrated in the reply envelope.
As is apparent from the foregoing, the invention overcomes a number of barriers and satisfies the requirements of a mailer-type business form. The construction of the invention can be used on all folding/sealing equipment that is currently available. It allows the check to be placed in the return envelope without folding and provides a top open return envelope, which gains wide customer acceptance. By incorporating the remittance portion on one panel of the reply envelope, more room is allowed for the statement or invoice. There is no chance of the remittance portion being lost or inadvertently omitted, as it is an integrated part of the reply envelope. Further, because the panel bearing the outgoing address defines a part of the reply envelope, so that the outgoing addresses is on the inside of the reply envelope, no outgoing address is showing on the reply envelope. Finally, the construction of the invention can be imaged in a simplexed mode, which from a print processing is an advantage, since all variable information can be provided on one face of the intermediate.
Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, an intermediate for a mailer type business form comprises the following components: a substantially opaque quadrate sheet of paper having parallel top and bottom edges, parallel first and second side edges perpendicular to the top and bottom edges and first and second faces. First and second fold lines are defined parallel to the top and bottom edges and divide the sheet into substantially equal-sized first, second and third panels. In the illustrated embodiment, the first panel is defined between the top edge of the intermediate and the first fold line, the third panel is defined between the bottom edge and the second fold line, and the second panel is defined between the first and third panels. An outgoing address is provided on the first face of the third panel. The outgoing address area is of a size and material suitable for receiving outgoing address indicia either by directly printing on the form or by adhesive label application. A reply address area is defined on the second face of the second panel. The reply address is typically preprinted on the intermediate but may be variably printed where the mailer is imaged in a duplex mode. Like the outgoing address area, the reply address area is of a size and material suitable for receiving an address printed thereon or the application of an adhesive address label (printed or written). Permanent adhesive patterns are provided on the first face of the first and/or second panels and on the second face of the second and/or third panels for fixedly adhering the mailer in a Z-folded configuration when the first, second and third panels are Z-folded about the first and second fold lines. Another permanent adhesive pattern, preferably including dots or strips of adhesive is disposed on the first face of the first panel adjacent the top edge thereof and/or on the first face of the second panel along and adjacent the second fold line and further on the second face of the second panel adjacent the first fold line and/or on the second face of the third panel adjacent the bottom edge of the mailer for securing the top and bottom edges of the Z-folded mailer.
First and second lines of weakness are formed in the first through third panels parallel to and spaced from each of the first and second side edges. These lines of weakness define tear-off strips providing for ready opening of a mailer constructed by Z-folding the sheet along the fold lines.
Re-wettable or otherwise activatable adhesive patterns are provided on the first face of the second panel for defining the second and third panels into a reply envelope. A reply envelope closing flap is defined by a portion of the second panel and has an activatable, for example re-wettable, adhesive on the first face thereof for sealing the reply envelope. A line of weakness is formed in the third panel parallel to the bottom edge and spaced from the bottom edge as to define a removable stub generally corresponding to or slightly larger than the reply envelope closing flap for being removed when the reply envelope is formed.